Oil-well bailer



(No Model.)

W. H. BIRGE.

OIL WELL BAILER. 7 No. 255.917. Patented Apr. 4,1882.

Jay-7,

A k a WITNESSES: w 'B INVENTOR:

/ BY ag A ATTORNEYS. a,

M. PETERS. Phalo-Uthognplxer. Wnhington. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

WILLIAM H. BIRGE, OF FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA.

i OIL-WELL BAIILER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,917, dated April 4, 1882.

Application filed July 19, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BIRGE, of Franklin, in the county of Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain useful Improvements in Oil-Well Bailers, of which the following is a specification.

Oil-wells are cased low enough to shut offall water from the well, and then the water that is inclosed within the casing is bailed out until but ten or fifteen feet of it, 01' thereabout, remains. This amount of water, with the reciprocating motion of the drill, causes the rock, which is mostly slate, to be worked into a thin mud, that is bailed out with a bailer, then more water is poured into the well, and the drill lowered and put in operation again, and in time withdrawn for the operation of the bailer, and thus the drill and bailer are worked in turn until the well is completed.

A bailer forremovingthedrillings from an oilwell is simply an iron tu beffrom sixteen totwen ty feet long, or thereabout, with a bail at its upper end to tie a line to, and with a valve-seat and valve in its lower end. Itis usually the case that the bailer-body is made of thin'iron,(sometimes sheet-iron is used,) in order to make the weight as little as possible on the line that is used in operating it. The bailer-valve seat as now constructed is a simple ring of from one and one-half to two inches deep, inserted in the end of the tube or body, and held therein by rivets that must necessarily be quite near the lower end of the said tube or body. Hence whenever, as is often the case, the bailer-valve gets stuck in the bottom of the well the rivet-holes tear out, and the valve. is left in the bottom of the well. The bailer in common use is also fully open at the top, so that if the fluid in the well is of greater depth than the bailer, said fluid will flow in at the top of the bailer, instead of at the bottom. In the ordinary bailer, too, the valve is so light that it usually opens before reaching the bottom of the well, so that the thicker fluid in the bottom of the well is not at once removed by it.

The object of this invention is to overcome these objections.

The invention consists of a bailer having its a top nearly closed, provided with a re-enforced valve-seat and a weighted valve, all of which will be hereinafter described.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of my improved bailer, showing one method of enlarged vertical sectional elevation of a portion of theimproved bailer, showing the valve without the weighting device.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, A represents the body of the bailer, and B the valve-seat.

In Fig. 1 the valve-seat B consists of a short metallic tube of the same exterior diameter throughout, but having its interior diameter reduced at its bottom by a ring or annular shoulder, a, that forms part of said tube. The

thinner or re-enforcing portion 0 of the valveseat B is of much greater depth than the shoulder or ring portion a, and the said seat B is driven up in the bailer-body A, sothat their lower edges are flush with each other, and is secured in place by two or more rows of rivets, b, driven one above the other, as shown.

. In Fi g. 3 the valve-seat B is formed of a ring, a, an dlga thinner or re enforcing portion, 0, as in Fig. but in this instance the said valve-seat B is turned down on the outside for nearly its whole length abput the thickness of the bailerbody A, whereby an annular shoulder, d, is formed about the bottom of said valve-seat B, so that when the said valve-seat B is inserted .into the end o fjtlieibailer bodfy A, the end of said body A warms: on the shoulder d, and the peripheries of said body A and shoulder 01 will be flush with each other, as shown. -In this instance, too, the valve-seat B is secured in the body A by two or more rows of rivets, b, driven one above the other, as shown, one row being driven through the ring a and the other through the re-enforcing or thinner portion 0.

In Figs. 8 and 2 the valve-seat B has its diameter reduced, as shown at f, to afford a suitable seat for the valve E.

In Fig. 2 the valve-seat B consists of a ring, a, and an independent re-enforcing portion, 0. In this case the ring ais turned down on its outside for nearly its Whole length about the thickness of the body A and re-enforcin g portion combined, whereby an annular shoulder, d, is formed about the bottom of said valveseat B, so that when said valve-seat B is inserted into the bailer-body A the lower end of the latter and of the re-enforcing tube 0 will rest on the shoulder d, and the outer faces of said body A and shoulder at will be flush with each other. In this instance the valve-seat B is secured in place by a row of rivets,'b, driven through body A, re-enforcing tube 0, and ring a, and by another row ofrivets, I), driven higher up through the body A and re-enforcing tube 0.

In all these instances it will be seen that the valve-seat B is more firmly secured in place than by the old method, as set forth.

In the top of the body A is fixed a horizont-al circular plate or diaphragm, O, to prevent the too rapid inflow :Of water in the top of the bailer, and said plate 0 is provided with a central orifice, g, for the egress and ingress of air, and over said orificeg is rigidly secured an inclined plate, h, to prevent the entrance of stones or other articles of sufiicient size to interfere with the operation of the valve E.

The bailer is raised and lowered by means of a line or chain (not shown) attached to the bail D.

The valve E is of the style in common use, and is within the body A and fitted to close upon the valve-seat B. It is screwed or otherwise secured on the upper end of a screwbolt, F, which latter projects downward out of the body- A, and has on its outer end a head, F, of sufficient weight to hold said valve E in its seat in a moderate depth of water; but, in

' order to assure the position of the valve E in any depth of water and against the pressure thereof on its seat B until the head F strikes the bottom of the well, I screw or otherwise secure in the top of the valve E an iron rod or bar, G, that extends upward in the axis of the body A, as shown in Fig. 1, and'serves as a weight for the said valve E.

In operating this device the bailer is lowered into the Well until the head F strikes the bottom thereof, and thereby forces the valve E open for the admission of the fluid contents of said well into the said bailer. Then, when the hotly A is filled, the said bailer is pulled hp, the valve E closing in its seat B the moment the head F is raised from the bottom of the well. When the bailer is raised out of the well it is swung to a suitable place and lowered until the head F comes in contact with the ground, whereby the valve E is lifted from its seat and the contents of the bailer discharged.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An improved oil-well bailer, constructed substantially as herein shown and described, consisting of tubular body A, provided with re-enforced valve-seat B, perforated valved diaphragm (I, and weighted valve E, arranged as set forth.

2. In an oil-well bailer, the combination, with the body A, provided with re-enforced valveseat B and the apertured valved diaphragm 0, of the valve E, provided with the head F and the bar G, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an oil-well bailer, the combination, with the body A, of the apertured diaphragm 0, provided with the rigid inclined plate h, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM H. BIRGE.

Witnesses:

GEORGE ALLEN, WILL G. BELL. 

